One of Those Relationships
by Adams7
Summary: Twin Shepards. John and Alice Shepard are reunited with Garrus Vakarian aboard the SR-2, but when Alice and Garrus' feelings for one another start to evolve into something more, they're the only ones on the ship who don't know
1. Broken Paradise

**A/N: Hooray! First Mass Effect story! Any constructive criticism is welcome. **

**P.S. A thank you goes out to MartaJones for helping me flesh out some of the later ideas.**

Mass Effect: One of "Those" Relationships

1: Broken Paradise.

"**I'm activating the bomb."**

"What are you doing Chief?"

"**I'm making sure this bomb goes off no matter what! It's done Commander, now go get the Lieutenant and get the Hell outta here!"**

"**Belay that. We can handle ourselves. Go back and get Williams!"**

Commander John Shepard exchanged a worried look with his two squadmates, the turian former C-Sec officer Garrus Vakarian and Shepard's twin sister, Alice while Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams and Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko bickered.

"**Uh, Commander? We got a problem."** The pilot of the SSV Normandy, Jeff "Joker" Monroe said over the com. **"We only have enough time to pick up one of them before we have to clear the blast zone."**

Shepard's heart stopped. This couldn't be happening, he had a creed: No one gets left behind. Now he was being forced to do just that, leave one of his team, one of his _friends_ to certain death. He steeled himself for what he must say next. "Joker, head to the bomb site, we'll meet you there."

"**WHAT**?" Ashley managed to say over the com at the exact same time Alice said it to his face.

Over the com, Kaidan breathed a sigh of relief. **"Thank you, Commander."**

"I'm coming to get you too Kaidan." Shepard would _not_ let his friend die like this.

"**I think we both know that's not going to happen, Commander…"** Kaidan said solemnly.

"Yes, it is!" Shepard said angrily into the com. "I'm ordering you to retreat, get clear of the blast zone!"

"**I can't do that, Commander. Kirrahe and the others will be overrun otherwise."**

Shepard snarled "Lieutenant Alenko, as your commanding officer I'm ordering you to-"

"**And I'm not following that order, sir." **Kaidan cut him off **"Feel free to court-martial me once the mission's over."**

Alice had heard enough, she turned and ran in the direction of the AA tower, of Kaidan. "Alice, stop!" Shepard called after his sister "Alice, come back here!"

"**Alice…"** Kaidan's voice was calm, soothing, and reassuring, causing Alice to stop in her tracks. **"Alice, please don't throw away your life for me."**

Tears started to appear in Alice's eyes. "Kaidan…"

"**I wish…"** Kaidan's voice finally cracked **"I wish we could have had more time together."**

"Kaidan please…" Alice whispered.

"**Go Alice."** Kaidan said **"Take care of yourself."**

Garrus, who hadn't spoken at all throughout this whole conversation, walked up and put a taloned hand on her shoulder. "Come on." He said, his flanging voice oddly gentle.

Alice nodded and walked back to Shepard with Garrus. "I'm ready Commander." She said, a cold fury in her eyes.

Shepard nodded and activated his com "We're on our way Ash."

…

Garrus saw that Alice was absent from the briefing room after they returned to the Normandy. Later, Garrus went looking for her and found Alice at Kaidan's old station by the sleeping pods, her shoulders slouched, head bowed, face concealed by her midnight black hair. Taking a deep breath, Garrus walked over to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

Alice started at his touch "Garrus!" Alice said as she turned to him, pausing to wipe something wet from her eyes "W-What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry," Garrus said solemnly "I know Kaidan was important to you."

Alice's eyes grew moist and Garrus started panicking. _Shit, is she crying? Way to go Vakarian!_ Doing the only thing he thought he could, Garrus pulled Alice into a tight hug. He stroked her hair when Alice seemed to finally open up and cried for her dead lover.

…

Garrus' eyes snapped open. He groaned as he sat upright in his bed. _Another dream,_ _**wonderful**_**. **Garrus sighed and got out of bed; he'd been having dreams about his time on the Normandy since Shepard's death two months ago. He went over two the small kitchen in his apartment on the Citadel, opening up the fridge and taking out a bottle of turian liquor, pouring himself a small glass. He was fed up with the bureaucratic bullshit in C-Sec. With the Council dismissing the existence of the Reapers and claiming that Shepard was unstable, people had grown complacent where they should be getting ready for the Reapers. Garrus shook his head and drained the glass in one gulp, his mind wandering back to the funeral…

…For the most part, the service was a piece of crap, a political show for the press. Garrus and most of the crew of the late Normandy were forced to sit in the back, the exception being Alice who, being family got a front row seat between her parents and Joker, who had refused to come. Surrounded by flowers from countless planets, an Alliance banner was draped over an empty coffin carved from the wood of a tree native to Elysium that seemed to glow white. Off to the right of the coffin was a podium while off to the left was a board covered in holos of Shepard. The only part of the funeral that felt sincere was when newly appointed Councilor Anderson made a speech describing Shepard's many admirable qualities. Tali's had broken down in tears after the first five seconds and found herself being comforted by (much to everyone's surprise) none other than Wrex.

At the end of the service, the Alliance banner was folded up and given to Shepard and Alice's mom Hannah. Once most of the politicians had left, leaving only Anderson and Shepard's family, the Normandy crew went up to the coffin to pay their respects to their dead commander. Liara placed a strangely beautiful flower from Thessia on the casket, Wrex merely nodded and rumbled a short "Shepard" before storming off, and Tali just mumbled an incoherent farewell, trying to keep herself from crying again.

Then, it was Garrus' turn. He walked up to the casket and after a minute of trying to figure out what to say, he just put his hand on the coffin and said "Goodbye… Commander."

He turned and walked away from the coffin to allow Ashley to pay her respects to her deceased love. "Skipper…" He glanced back at the sound of Ashley's whisper "I… I just…" She took a deep breath and found her voice. _"__Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea,/ Thy tribute wave deliver:/ No more by thee my steps shall be,/For ever and for ever./ Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea,/ A rivulet then a river:/ Nowhere by thee my steps shall be/ For ever and for ever./ But here will sigh thine alder tree/ And here thine aspen shiver;/ And here by thee will hum the bee,/ For ever and for ever./ A thousand suns will stream on thee,/ A thousand moons will quiver;/ But not by thee my steps shall be,/ For ever and for ever…"_

…Back in the present Garrus shook his head. Why did he even bother? What was the point? When his father had convinced him to leave the turian military and spend the remainder of his mandatory 15 years of service to the community at C-Sec, he had jumped at the chance, thinking he would be able to make a difference. After serving under Shepard, Garrus now knew how pointless his work at C-Sec really had been. Shepard's philosophy of getting things done the right way, not the quick way had worked well for him; but he was a Spectre after all. When Garrus had tried to apply this philosophy to C-Sec however, he had been weighed down at every turn by useless red tape. And now with this latest case… he'd had enough.

Garrus poured himself another glass and drained it. His thoughts wandered to Alice; she hadn't been seen since Shepard's funeral. He wondered where she was, what she was doing. Garrus wished she were here, Alice could whip the Council into shape. Garrus felt fury surge through him at the thought of those backstabbing politicians. He angrily threw the glass against the wall, shattering it. He was done with the Citadel and its damned politics.

Garrus decided at that moment to leave and never come back, go to some dark pit on the edge of civilized space and kill all the scum he found there.

Garrus took the bottle of liquor and chugged the rest down, relishing in the pleasant sensation as the alcohol flowed through his system.

…

Alice rubbed her sore shoulder; that last opponent had been a tough one. She walked away from the ring and ordered a beer at the filthy crowded club's bar.

Suddenly, a cool female voice spoke up next to her. "Well, this isn't the place I expected to find Commander Shepard's sister."

Alice whirled around, crouching low into a combat stance, her biotics flaring. She may not have been nearly as powerful a biotic as her brother but she certainly could pack one hell of a punch. The woman who had spoken was tall and lean, and she wore a skintight black and white catsuit, showing off her hourglass figure and prominent bosom. Her raven hair was perfectly stylized and fell in waves around her head. Her face, while beautiful, was a cold professional mask.

"You can calm down; I'm not your enemy." Her voice was colored with a rich Australian accent.

Alice eyed the yellow Cerberus emblem on her chest. She snorted "Yeah right."

The woman's eyes narrowed "If I wanted to kill you I already would have done it, Operative Shepard."

Alice scoffed but nevertheless deactivated her biotics and shifted from her combat stance. "Not Operative, not anymore, I resigned from Alliance Intelligence Services after my brother died." She turned back to the bar and resumed drinking her beer.

The woman smiled for the first time, and Alice had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach "Yes, about that… how would you like to get him back?"

**A/N: The poem Ashley recited is **_**"A Farewell"**_** by Alfred Tennyson.**


	2. Reunion

**A/N: Bit of a time jump here. Sorry if it's confusing.**

2: Reunion

Two years.

Garrus lay on the floor of the hideout, slowly bleeding out.

Two years.

Figures, just when Shepard returns to the world of the living he winds up leaving it.

Two years.

Dimly, like it was from a thousand miles away, Garrus heard a boom. He felt armored hands shake him and distantly heard a familiar voice say something: _Garrus…_

His eyes flew open and he took a gurgling breath before coughing on something wet in his throat. He searches wildly for whoever had spoken and his eyes finally focus on a human female with midnight black hair, tan skin, and piercing blue eyes identical to her brother's.

_Alice._

He feels someone apply medi-gel to the right side of his face. He looks and sees the dark-skinned human male that was with Alice and Shepard. Shepard is standing over him, hand raised to his ear, his mouth moving incoherently. Finally, his gaze fell back on Alice and her worried expression. Her mouth is moving, like she's saying something but her can't hear her. His vision started to go dark around the edges and he finally sank into oblivion…

…"Commander Shepard?" Garrus acknowledged the human leading the trio who had just emerged from the elevator. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

Shepard gestured toward the retreating form of Executor Pallin "Who were you just talking to?"

"Executor Pallin, head of Citadel Security. My boss." He added bitterly "He'll be the one presenting my findings on Saren to the Council." He snarled out the treacherous Spectre's name.

Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "Sounds like you really want to bring him down."

Garrus crossed his arms over his chest "I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way." He shook his head "But, he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence."

One of the two humans flanking Shepard, the male one spoke up. "I think the Council's ready for us Commander."

Shepard nodded and passed Garrus with the two other humans, the female shooting Garrus a wary look. "Good luck Shepard." Garrus said to the Commander's retreating back "Maybe they'll listen to you." He watched the three humans go and when they were out of sight, he turned and headed back toward the elevator. Just as he reached it however, the doors opened suddenly and another human charged out, running into him.

"Ooof! Watch where you're going!" the human female said angrily.

Garrus stepped out of the human's way. "Well excuse me." He replied sarcastically.

The woman glared at him and put her hands on her hips. She had short, styled, midnight black hair, tan skin, and striking blue eyes. She wore entirely black light armor and Garrus noticed a sniper rifle on her back. "Are you getting snarky with me buddy?"

Garrus rolled his eyes, "Does it matter? You look like you have someplace to be."

The woman shot him one last glare and was about to run off when she stopped and asked "Hey, did a human male pass this way not to long ago? Broad shoulders, light skin that really needs to see the sun more, shaved black hair, blue eyes, probably wearing N7 armor, you know with a red stripe down one arm?"

Garrus nodded "Yeah, he just headed over to the Council."

The woman nodded "`Kay thanks!" With that she dashed away.

Garrus shook his head and got into the elevator. Humans were really weird…

…Garrus felt a sharp pain in the right side of his face and his eyes flew open. He was in a bright medbay, lying on a gurney with none other than Dr. Chakwas and a chattering salarian standing over him. "What happened?" he winced as pain shot through his right mandible.

"You got hit by a missile." Chakwas said, scolding him. "You're lucky you're alive."

Garrus winced again, this time not from the pain. If there was one thing he did not miss about serving under Shepard, it was the way Dr. Chakwas could make him feel like he was being scolded by his mother. (Well okay, he bore no love for Shepard's driving skills either.) "I… uh… remember that part, I meant afterwards." Damn, his face hurt.

"The Commander and Alice took down the gunship and brought you to the Normandy as quickly as possible." Chakwas shook her head "You were in pretty bad shape, that missile did a lot of damage to your face."

Garrus nodded then frowned "Wait, the Normandy? But… it was destroyed."

"Cerberus rebuilt it" Chakwas said "Along with Shepard."

Garrus mulled this over "Where're Shepard and Alice?"

"Shepard's in the debriefing room with Jacob, the Cerberus agent that accompanied them to get you and Alice is- Wait Garrus you're still not fully healed!" Chakwas tried in vain to prevent Garrus from getting to his feet but it was no use.

Garrus marched out of the medbay- right into a worried Alice. "Garrus!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the turian in a hug "You're awake!"

Garrus was, needless to say, quite flustered. Alice had never been one to hide her emotions outside of combat, and it looked like she hadn't changed in the last two years. Still, she took him by surprise. Alice released him but her smile faltered upon seeing his face. "What?" he asked, worried.

"Nothing," Alice said, quickly regaining her composure. She grabbed his hand and started leading him toward the elevator. "Come on, John will want to know you're up."

Garrus couldn't help the strange feeling in his chest as Alice pulled him along. He didn't hear the salarian mutter to himself "Hmm… increase in hormonal levels. Fascinating."

Alice pulled Garrus into the elevator and pressed the button for the second floor, not dropping his hand. "Dr. Chakwas said that we were on the Normandy? And that it and Shepard were rebuilt by _Cerberus_?" Garrus questioned Alice as the elevator slowly rose up one floor.

Alice nodded "Welcome to the Normandy SR-2."

Garrus frowned "But what about Shepard? He _died_ didn't he? You can't just 'rebuild' someone like a ship."

Alice glanced away "Turns out you can if you have the scientists and the money."

At that moment, the elevator doors opened into a large CIC reminiscent of the old Normandy's. Alice led Garrus to the left, through an armory and into a small hallway behind the elevator. As the door to the debriefing room opened, Garrus heard a dark-skinned human male, Jacob if he remembered correctly, saying "…full functionality but…" Jacob stopped talking when Garrus and Alice entered the room. "Tough son of a bitch." Jacob said, cracking a smile "Didn't think he'd be up yet."

Shepard turned and cocked an eyebrow when he noticed that Alice was still holding Garrus' hand. Alice seemed to realize this and quickly withdrew her hand from Garrus'. Doing his best to ignore the strange feeling in his gut, Garrus said casually "Nobody would give me a mirror, how bad is it?"

Shepard smiled broadly and laughed "Hell Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face paint on there and nobody will know the difference."

Garrus' mandibles flared as me laughed at the glare Alice gave her twin, and then winced as pain shot through his face. "Don't make me laugh, damnit, my face is barely holding together as it is." Garrus sighed sarcastically "Probably for the best, everybody was ignoring you and always hitting on me, time you got your fair shot with the ladies." Shepard shook his head in amusement. "Then again," Garrus said with a turian smirk "Some women actually like facial scars," he glanced at Alice "Mind you most of those women are krogan."

Jacob wisely decided to leave at that point giving Shepard a salute as he left. Once the Operative was out of earshot, Garrus grew serious "Frankly I'm more worried about you. _Cerberus_ Shepard?"

Shepard smiled at him "That's why I'm glad you're here Garrus. If I'm walking into Hell I want someone I trust at my side."

"You do realize this plan has me walking into Hell too?" Garrus' mandibles spread into a smile "Just like old times. Is there anywhere I can be of service?"

A blue holographic orb appeared over the conference table "The forward batteries could use a Gunnery Officer." A cool female voice said over the coms.

"Uh… Shepard?" Garrus said warily "Who's this?"

"EDI." This time it was Alice who spoke "The ship's AI." She started to leave the room, beckoning Garrus to follow her. "Come on, I'll show you to the main batteries."

"Yeoman Chambers can do that," Shepard cut in "I'd like to speak to you, Alice." He addressed Garrus "Chambers is the perky redhead near the Galaxy Map." Garrus nodded and, after exchanging a puzzled glance with Alice, left the twins alone.

Yeoman Kelly Chambers was more than happy to show Garrus to the main batteries. After making an assessment of the Normandy's weapons, Garrus started to run through a list of possible ways to improve them and was in the process of checking to see if any of his old contacts had access to schematics for the new Thanix cannons when the door to the main battery opened and a human woman strode in.

"Garrus Vakarian," the woman said professionally "I'm Miranda Lawson, Shepard's XO. EDI has informed me that you have decided to take the position of Gunnery Officer."

Garrus turned away from the console and addressed Lawson. "That's right."

Lawson nodded "Good. Any reports you have for the Commander will be sent through me."

She turned to leave but before she could, Garrus asked "How'd you do it?" Lawson stopped and raised her eyebrows at Garrus inquiringly "How'd you get Shepard to work for Cerberus?"

Miranda shrugged "We rebuilt him, showed him the abductions and he happily joined us to stop the Collectors."

"And Alice?"

"She joined Cerberus two months after Shepard's funeral," Miranda stated. "I approached her and asked for her assistance with her brother's reconstruction. When she learned about what we were doing she joined us readily." She noticed the way Garrus tensed at this. _Interesting…_ "Is that all Officer Vakarian?"

Garrus nodded "Yeah… I, uh… have some calibrations to do." He turned back to the console, not even registering Lawson's departure as he processed this new information.

…

John leaned against the debriefing table, staring at the hologram of the Normandy that hovered above it. "You seem happy to see Garrus."

Alice nodded, though for some reason she felt blood rush to her cheeks. "Yeah, he's a good friend. And trustworthy; I know he'll have your back."

John turned his head to look at Alice "No, I mean you seem _really_ happy to see Garrus."

Alice frowned "What are you…?" her eyes widened "No. You can't possibly mean… Ugh! John! He's a _turian_!"

John's lips twitched into a smile "So? I dated a turian once."

Alice's face scrunched up. "Yeah, but Cecil was just a fling you had when you were feeling rebellious as a teenager. And if I remember correctly it didn't exactly end very well."

John grimaced "Don't remind me, I would still have the scars if it weren't for the Lazarus Project." Alice noted how John froze at the mention of the project that brought him back to life.

_Say hello to the elephant in the room._ Alice thought dryly.

John looked back at the hologram of the new Normandy "Look, Alice, I… I know you don't want to talk about it but…" he sighed "I… I need to know…" when he looked back at her, Alice noted the lost look in his eyes "What happened to you over the last two years?"

Alice moved to stand beside her brother and mirrored his posture. "Well, after you died, I felt… lost. It was like what happened to me on Akuze all over again. I just couldn't stay, so I resigned from Alliance Intelligence, just wandered, looking for a fight."

She glanced away. The mere mention of Akuze sent shivers down her spine. She had just graduated from N7 with her brother. She was given her first command, charged with leading a squad of fifty marines to the remote colony to investigate its sudden silence. They found the settlement intact, but completely deserted. They set up camp in the settlement, determined to search the surrounding jungle for any survivors. Then, when night fell, the Thresher Maws hit. It was horrific, not even the constant gunfire could drown out the shrieks as of her men as they were dragged to their gruesome deaths. When the sun rose, Alice was the only one left.

She was never sure how she had survived; she could only remember events of that horrible night in her nightmares. She spent weeks wandering through the jungle in a daze, somehow surviving until an Alliance patrol vessel arrived to investigate why her team had not reported in. She remembered hearing how John had gotten the news that they had found her just as he was about to be recognized for his actions in defending Elysium during the Blitz. He ran off right as the ceremony was about to begin, determined to go to his sister.

Alice spent the next few months in therapy and when the Alliance psychologists finally determined that she was fit to return to duty, Alice hadn't wanted to continue serving in the Alliance Navy anymore. Thankfully, Alice's father had connections in Alliance Intelligence Services that were willing to hire her. Alice was already a proficient sniper, and had taken several courses in N7 as an Infiltrator although because she was a biotic, she never was able to pass the stealth portion of the training, due to other biotics always being able to detect when another one was nearby from the energy fields all biotics gave off. AIS got around this by outfitting her with a new implant designed to _suppress_ these fields and make her virtually undetectable to other biotics. Thus her career as Operative Alice began.

Eventually, she learned about her brother's Spectre candidacy, and then what happened on Eden Prime and the charges he was laying against the Spectre Saren. She requested some leave and rushed to the Citadel to support her brother. She barged in on Saren's hearing and promptly interrupted when the Council looked like they were going to acquit Saren. She argued, and called the Council idiots for ignoring her brother (much to Udina's dismay). Unfortunately, she only succeeded in making things worse for her brother. When John finally got some proof of Saren's actions and was appointed a Spectre, Alice requested permission to join him on the Normandy. That's where she met Kaidan.

All this flashed through Alice's head in a second and she continued her tale. "Miranda eventually contacted me and said that she wanted my help in your… 'reconstruction'. The rest is pretty much just me working to gather some of the old crew back so that when you woke up you would have people you could trust at your side."

John nodded "Did you… ever learn what happened to Ashley?"

The irony was not lost on Alice that John had fallen for someone under his command; especially someone under his command that had an (understandable) mistrust of aliens and was, of all things _religious_. Their parents were New Galactic Christian, a denomination that split off from various other groups and adapted their beliefs to include the revelation that humanity was not alone in the universe. Alice herself still held some connection to the religion but John had, as a teenager with an excessive need to rebel, firmly told their parents he did not believe in a higher power. Alice still cracked up on occasion when she remembered how calmly their parents had taken it. Their dad had laughed and praised John on his willingness to not let others shape his views while their mom had smiled and said that it was his choice. Needless to say, it was not the reaction John had hoped for and, although his rebellious streak would continue for a few more years, he eventually gave in when Alice told him she was joining the Alliance. In spite of all their differences, there was not a force in the universe that could separate the Shepard twins for long.

Alice sighed and answered her brother's question. "No John, the Illusive Man told you we couldn't locate her. I'm sorry; her file's just too well classified."

John's shoulders slumped "I understand." He straightened up "Come on, we should return to our duties."

**A/N: Let me know what I did well and, more importantly, what I can improve on.**


	3. Complications

3: Complications

Garrus studied his reflection in the mirror, his attention drifting to his scars. The scarring on the right side of his face had been primarily covered with a bandage to allow the wound to heal. While he had initially been unnerved by the damage, he had since accepted it as a small penance for losing his squad. _Not that it's enough,_ Garrus thought bitterly, _it's still my fault they're dead. They still haunt my dreams. _He sighed, _Spirits I need a drink._ When was the last time he had a bottle of liquor? Before that Spirits-damned son-of-a-barefaced-bitch Sidonis' betrayal probably. And his turian liquor stash had been left back at his hideout on Omega; _looters probably got it by now. I'll need to buy more. And we were just at the Citadel. Damnit!_ He turned on the faucet and used his trembling hands to splash his face with cold water, trying to distract himself from the burning desire for alcohol deep inside him. _Don't be an idiot Vakarian, if Shepard- or worse, Lawson- finds out you're drinking on the job you'll be banned from ground missions and probably be forced to go through "rehab" with Chakwas like you're an… No, not even going to think that. _

"Hey Garrus." At the sound of his name, Garrus turned to see Jacob enter the men's restroom. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

Garrus shook his head "No, just… thinking. Did you need something?"

Jacob shrugged "Naw, not really. Have you talked to Kasumi yet?"

"No," Garrus stated "I don't really trust thieves."

Jacob shrugged "Fair enough, but she seems nice, _and_ she has a bar."

Garrus perked up at that "Really…" _I wonder if she has any dextro-friendly beverages? Maybe even some turian liquor? _

Jacob cocked an eyebrow at Garrus' sudden interest. "That all it takes to win you over?"

_Shit._ Garrus fumbled for a reply "No… I'm… not much of a drinker… it'll just be nice to be able to… relax once in a while, that's all."

Jacob didn't seem one-hundred percent convinced but nevertheless nodded "I hear that." He went over to one of the urinals and turned his back to Garrus.

Deciding to give the human some level of privacy, Garrus turned back to his reflection, musing on how he would acquire some of the thief's dextro-friendly alcohol without seeming suspicious. If he just asked he might have to answer why he was taking it to the main battery. He couldn't sneak in at night and steal it; Kasumi is probably too good to let her guard down while she slept. No, he'll have to grab it while Shepard has her out on a mission without him. _He did say that he would be rotating who was in his squad right?_ He should have a chance to grab a bottle or two soon. Just enough to tide him over until they make another supply stop. Okay, maybe he should grab four… or five… just in case.

_But wait, Cerberus probably has bugs all over the ship, and there's that damned AI always watching._ Okay, he should be able to sweep and disable all bugs in the main battery, and he could disable EDI's cameras every night when he goes to bed, just so that he won't draw _too_ much attention. Kasumi has probably already swept her quarters for bugs, so he shouldn't have to worry about that. Perhaps he could arrange for EDI to lose all of her cameras on the crew deck simultaneously, make it seem like a technical glitch. Then, all he'd need to do is find some way to sneak into Kasumi's room, grab the alcohol he needed, and get back to the main battery without drawing attention to himself.

"Uh… hey Garrus, you okay man?" Garrus was ripped from his thoughts at the sound of Jacob's concerned voice. He turned away from the mirror to find the Cerberus agent giving him a concerned look.

Garrus nodded "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well for starters your hands are shaking." Jacob pointed out.

Garrus looked down at his talons and noticed that Jacob was right, his hands _were_ shaking. "It's nothing." Garrus said as casually as he could "I just… need to go shoot something… lot of pent up energy you know?"

Jacob frowned but shrugged, letting the matter be to Garrus' great relief. "Alright, if you say so," He then got a mischievous glint in his eye. "So… there's been some rumors going around that you and Alice are… close."

Garrus cocked one of his eyebrow-plates "Where'd you hear that?"

"Joker,"

Garrus snorted "Of course," he shook his head at Jacob "And you _believed _him?"

"He said you two were very close on the original Normandy." Jacob added.

"Yeah, as _friends_!" Garrus insisted.

At that moment, Shepard entered the restroom "Me thinks thou doth protest too much." He said with a grin.

Garrus shot Shepard a puzzled glance as Jacob cracked up. "Huh?"

"Old human expression, maybe it doesn't work so well in galactic." Shepard admitted "I was passing by on my way to visit Kasumi and I couldn't help but overhear."

An idea popped into Garrus' head "Mind if I tag along?"

"Don't you have calibrations to do?" Shepard teased

Garrus shrugged "I got some time to kill." He followed Shepard out of the men's restroom, leaving a still snickering Jacob behind, and into the thief's quarters to find that Alice was already there and chatting with Kasumi.

"…so then Kaidan turns this sick shade of green and throws up _all over_ Wrex!" Alice was saying while Kasumi giggled "Needless to say Wrex was _not_ happy."

"Are you still telling 'horror' stories about when I drove the Mako?" Shepard said, crossing his arms over his chest and trying his best to look stern (the way his lips were twitching into a grin ruined the effect).

Alice and Kasumi both noticed Shepard and Garrus standing in the doorway "Oh, hey bro, Garrus" Alice said casually "Need something?"

Shepard shook his head "Nah, just coming to see how Kasumi was settling in." he grinned "But I see now that I might have to stay to defend myself from any further exaggerated stories about my driving skills."

Garrus couldn't resist saying "They aren't exaggerated; I remember how many times I had to practically rebuild the Mako from scratch."

Alice laughed while Shepard glared at him "Traitor."

Garrus' reply was a simple smirk as me moved further into the room. His eyes immediately landed on the bar near the back of the room and he was pleased to notice that there were indeed several bottles of turian liquor on the shelves behind it. He felt his talons twitch in anticipation. _Patience Vakarian_. He forced his eyes to continue roving the room, examining the various works of art and cultural artifacts on display. _Hey, is that…?_

"So," Kasumi said "What happened next?"

Alice smiled "Well, before Wrex could kill Kaidan, a Thresher Maw appeared. We were so busy trying to avoid getting eaten that I think Wrex forgot about the whole thing until we got back on the Normandy. After that, well… let's just say Kaidan couldn't go out on another mission for a week because he was too busy healing up in medbay."

"I don't think he minded," Shepard said, as he moved to lean against the window "After all you did visit him every chance you got. You even kissed his boo-boos to make them all better."

There was a pregnant silence as Garrus was sure Shepard realized what he'd just said. "Shit, Alice I didn't mean to-"

Alice cut her brother off. "Its fine John, it's been two years since Virmire, I've already forgiven you a long time ago. It wasn't your fault." She added when Shepard tried to protest.

Kasumi choose that moment to interject "Um… maybe this is a conversation two should have in private."

"No it's fine." Alice said.

"Yeah," Shepard said reluctantly. "Whatever you say."

…

Alice had been sitting in her quarters on the crew deck when the blackout happened.

John had gone down with Kasumi to Bekenstein to retrieve her partner's greybox and the Normandy was just lazily waiting in orbit for the mission to be done. Then, without warning, EDI went dark on the whole floor. By "going dark" it meant that all power on the crew deck went out for a moment before turning back on again. EDI was unable to access any of the systems on the deck, leaving her effectively blind.

Alice immediately left her quarters, intending to go to the AI core and figure out what was the problem when something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was Garrus, sneaking out of Kasumi's quarters with a bag in hand. _What are you up to Garrus?_ Alice followed her turian friend as he furtively crossed through the confused mess and back to the main battery. Alice hesitated outside the battery doors. Garrus probably had a good reason for sneaking into Kasumi's quarters and stealing something. There was no reason to overreact right? _Ah screw it; I wanna know what's going on!_ With that she pressed the panel to open the doors.

"Hey Garrus, _what'cha doin'_?"

Garrus, who had been in the middle of stuffing the bag into one of the crates in the main battery, froze. "Nothing…"

Alice cocked an eyebrow "_Really_? Because it looks to me like you're trying to hide something you stole from Kasumi's room in a crate. But of course my good friend would _never_ do that! _Right_?"

Alice noticed how Garrus flinched from her words "Yeah…"

"So why don't you put that back." Alice said sternly "Or do you want John to learn about how you're stealing things from other crew members?"

Garrus sighed and opened the bag "I wasn't stealing."

"Say what now?" Alice looked inside the bag and was immediately taken aback by what she saw inside. "What is that?"

"A famous asari artifact that was stolen from the Citadel Museum of Galactic History two years ago." Garrus answered "We were never able to find the artifact or the person who took it. It… was after that case that I quit C-Sec and went to Omega." He glanced away "I noticed it when I visited Kasumi's quarters with Shepard the other day. I was going to send it back to the museum through some of my old contacts."

"So _you're_ the one responsible for EDI's blackout?" Alice crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him accusingly.

Garrus ducked his head "Yeah…"

Alice shook her head "Why didn't you just tell John? I'm sure he would have been willing to ask Kasumi to return it."

"I didn't want to put him in that kind of position." He handed the bag over to Alice "Look, I know you'll have to tell Shepard about this, just let me return the artifact."

Alice glanced down at the bag in her hands. She smiled "_What_ artifact?"

Alice smirked at the look of disbelief on Garrus' face as she returned the bag to him. "EDI will be okay right?"

Garrus managed to find his voice as he took the bag "I… uh… Yeah, she should be fine in a minute. I only needed the blackout to last long enough for me to get the artifact."

Alice shot Garrus one last grin as she left the main battery "Next time, just ask."

When the doors shut behind Alice, Garrus breathed a sigh of relief. He had been telling Alice the truth about the asari artifact, but he hadn't told her about the other reason he stole into Kasumi's room. He placed the bag in a crate and removed the front of his chest armor, revealing the bottles of liquor from where they were stashed in a secret compartment he had created. _Take that Wrex! I told you getting Tail to show me how to make these pockets wasn't a waste of time!_

His hand trembled as he grabbed one of the bottles. _I'll just have a quick drink -just a little one- to tide me over until tonight…_ Garrus shook his head._ No, you can't, you're still on duty, if Shepard discovers you drunk, he'll take the bottles and kick your sorry ass out the airlock. Best to just wait until tonight, it'll only be a few hours. You can wait that long, right? _ He glanced down at the bottle and, with great difficulty, proceeded to stash it and the other bottles away in another smaller crate. He stuffed the box beneath his cot and turned back to his terminal, trying to distract himself until the end of his shift.

**A/N: Please Review; tell me what I did well and more importantly, what I can improve on!**


	4. PostHorizon

**A/N: Wow, another chapter after one day! I had a lot of fun writing this.**

4:Post-Horizon

"_HALF a league, HALF a league/ HALF a league on_(hic)_ward_!"

Alice and Garrus watched in amazement as Shepard downed another shot of krogan ryncol while reciting Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade". Shepard poured himself another glass, finishing off the bottle and promptly throwing the empty container behind him to join the others. "_All in the Valley of DEATH/ Rode the six hundred_!" He downed the shot and grabbed another bottle, cracking it open with his flaring biotics and filling his glass again. "_ 'FORWARD the Light Brigade! / CHARGE for the guns!' he _(hic) _said._"

"Alright, what the bloody hell is going on out here!" Miranda said irritably, emerging from her office. "It's 3:00 AM and I'm _trying_ to write a report to the Illusive Man but _somebody_ won't shut the bloody hell u-" She froze when she rounded the corner and saw Shepard sitting at the kitchen counter, a pile of bottles containing filled with the radioactive krogan beverage next to him. "Commander?"

"O', h'ey M'(hic)randa!" Shepard lazily waved at the Cerberus operative, accidently sending several pots and pans flying with his acting up biotics. "Whoops," Shepard giggled as the poor appliances crashed against the bulkhead.

Miranda gaped in disbelief "Shepard, what are you- wait, why am I asking you?" she turned to Alice and Garrus "What is going on and why haven't you tried stopping him?"

" '_FOR_(hic)_WARD the Light Brigade!' _"

"We did," Alice said "Or more specifically, _Jacob_ did. He's being patched up by Chakwas now."

"Well, try again!" Miranda ordered "He's going to kill himself if he keeps this up! The human body is _not _supposed to hold down…" She counted the number of empty bottles lying on the floor "SIX bottles of ryncol? Where the hell did he get that many?"

"Zaeed." Garrus and Alice answered simultaneously.

"_Their's was not to make reply/ Their's was not to question why/ Their's was but to do_ (hic)_ and DIE!_"

"What's with all the bitching? I come up here for my midnight raid and I find the Commander spouting drunken poetry and the cheerleader having a hissy fit." Jack asked, emerging from the elevator.

"Shepard is drinking away his woes." Garrus answered.

"_CANNON to the right of them! / CANNON to the _(hic)_ left of them! / CANNON in front of _(hic)_ them! / Volley'd and Thunder'd!_"

"Is this all because of what that bitch said to him on Horizon?" Jack rolled her eyes. "Fuck, I never would've thought the Commander would pine for a girl like a little-"

"_Jack,_" Alice warned. "Be nice."

The ex-convict snorted but changed the topic. "So why's he spouting poetry like a drunk elcor?"

"_Storm'd at with shot and shell! / Bodly they rode and well! / Into the jaws _(hic)_ of Death! / Into the mouth of HELL!_"

"Ashley loved Tennyson." Garrus explained "She got Shepard hooked on it."

"Really?" Jack said, casting an interested glance at Shepard "Commander's into poetry?"

"_Flash'd all there sabres bare! / Flash'd as they turn'd in air! / Sabring the gunners there!_"

"Why Jack," Alice teased "I never took you for the poetic type."

"Fuck you."

"Can we please get back on the topic of how to get Shepard to stop this _without_ getting hurled across the room?" Miranda pleaded.

"_Plunged in the battery-_(hic)_-smoke! / Right thro' the line they broke! / Cossack and Russian/ Reel'd from the saber-stroke!_"

"You know, considering how drunk he is, I'm surprised he can even remember the lines." Alice mused.

Miranda cleared her throat. Jack rolled her eyes "Relax cheerleader, I got this." She marched up to Shepard and then, in a voice so freakishly sweet that even a Thresher Maw would run for cover, said "_Hey Shepard._"

"_CANNON to the right of th_- O', h'ey (hic) J'ack!" Shepard slurred, smiling as broadly as he could, and then some when biotic sat down next to him. "Ca're ta (hic) join meh?"

"Don't mind if I do Shepard." Jack said, still using that freakily sweet voice as she grabbed a glass and took the new bottle (Shepard having already finished the last one) from him.

"D'you like (hic) poet'ry? Ashhh _luuuuved_ poet'ry, espec'lly (hic) Tenn'son" Shepard spread his arms wide and continued dramatically "_CANNON to the right of them! / CANNON to the left of them! / CANNON be_(hic)_hind them! / Volley'd and Thun-_" _THUNK_!

Shepard's face planted on the counter when Jack slammed the bottle like a bat as hard as she could over his head. "Hey, it didn't break!" Jack said, cheerfully holding up the undamaged bottle for her stunned audience.

"JACK!" Miranda cried, rushing to the unconscious Shepard's side. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"What?" Jack said innocently "He's stopped drinking."

"She has a point," Garrus added, earning deadly glares from both Alice and Miranda. "I'll… uh… go get Chakwas."

"No need" Garrus turned to see the doctor emerging from the medbay. "EDI informed me immediately." She went to Shepard's side and, after checking his condition with her omni-tool, commanded Miranda to help her take him to the medbay. "We're going to need to pump this stuff out of his system."

Chakwas and Miranda carried Shepard to the medbay, Jack started to leave but after a moment's consideration, grabbed the remaining ryncol bottles, stating "I'm taking these," and promptly left.

Then it was just Garrus and Alice, alone in the mess hall. After a few moments of awkward silence, Garrus spoke up. "Ashley acted like an ass."

Alice shook her head "I don't blame her. She had just found out that after two years of mourning, her dead lover was actually _alive_ and, even worse, hadn't contacted her. She had no way of knowing that John had tried to get in touch with her and failed. I mean, if I discovered that Kaidan was still alive and hadn't contacted me; I'd be pretty pissed too." There was a pause before she added "Plus John's opening line wasn't exactly ideal."

Garrus couldn't resist chuckling, " 'Hey Ash, how've ya been?' "

Alice cracked a grin "Dear God, don't remind me. He had some of the worst pickup lines when we were in High School and yet he somehow always managed to get the girl."

Garrus grinned "Does that run in the family?"

Alice grimaced "Unfortunately yes, it does."

Garrus laughed at Alice's blush and soon enough, Alice was smiling again. Garrus smiled right back at Alice, and suddenly noticed several things about her he never had before. He noticed the way the gleaming black strands of her hair fell around her face like silk, how her sparkling blue eyes were the same color as his markings, how the light seemed to shine off her tanned skin. The world around them dimmed and Garrus saw only Alice, who now was silhouetted by an angelic light. Garrus realized that they were slowly leaning toward one another, their faces getting closer and closer. Then, when they were only inches apart, a beep sounded from Garrus' omni-tool. The world returned to its original lighting and the strange spell that had been cast over Garrus was lifted.

"I… uh… should probably get that," Garrus said sheepishly, both relieved and angry that the moment was shattered. Activating his omni-tool, Garrus saw that he had a message from one of his contacts on the Citadel. As he read the message, Garrus felt rage fill him and he tensed.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked.

Regaining his composure, Garrus said "I've got a lead on Sidonis."

Garrus could practically see the gears in Alice's head turning "The one who betrayed your team?"

Garrus nodded "Yeah, he's on the Citadel, trying to hide."

Alice nodded "Alright, we'll let my brother know in the morning, provided he's not having the worst hangover in the universe."

Garrus nodded "Thank you Alice." He turned and was heading back to the main battery when Alice said from behind him "What are you planning on doing once you find him?"

Garrus stopped outside of the battery doors and looked back at Alice "What do you think?"

Alice had a concerned look on her face when she asked "Are you sure you want to play it like that?"

Garrus' eyes narrowed as he said darkly "Very."

With that he entered the main battery, locking the door behind him. Garrus disabled EDI's cameras and pulled out his stash of liquor from beneath his cot. He grabbed one of the two remaining bottles (_Gonna need to remember to grab some more soon._) and stared at it, his mind filled with dark thoughts of bloodlust and revenge. _I'm coming for you, Sidonis._ He opened the bottle with his talons and drank the entire thing down, not unlike what Shepard had been doing mere minutes before.

**A/N: As always, let me know what I did well and what I can improve on.**


	5. Eye for an Eye

**A/N: Wow, I'm on a role!**

5: Eye for an Eye.

Some say Revenge is a poison. It seeps beneath your skin, rotting your insides, turning you into a hollow shell of your former self. Others say Revenge is balance: an eye for an eye, a life for a life. As Alice watched John try to reason with Garrus as they sat in the car parked on a catwalk overlooking their meeting place with Sidonis, she felt that the former of the two beliefs was more accurate. She had never seen Garrus like this, not even when tracking down Dr. Saleon. It had never really struck her before how much Garrus had changed in the last two years. She should have expected it; she didn't have the excuse of being dead for all that time like John did. But still, some part of a person always wants to believe nothing's changed.

"I appreciate the concern." Garrus said, leaning his head back, sounding exhausted. "But I'm not you."

"This isn't you either." _Nice, you always did know how to hit the nail on the head John._

Garrus chuckled darkly "Really? I've always hated injustice, the thought that Sidonis could get away with this…"

Alice couldn't stand it anymore; she had to speak up "This _isn't_ justice. This is murder."

Then to her complete surprise, Garrus turned to look at her and she nearly recoiled from what she saw when his eyes met hers. Garrus' blue eyes were a void, nothing but an inferno of pure primal fury shone in them. Some part of Alice, the part that held the body's primitive instincts, urged her to run away as fast as she could. Everything in Garrus screamed one thing: _Predator_. But Alice was an N7 graduate; she had looked into the very definition of an apex predator on Akuze and survived when all other's perished that night, be it in body or spirit. She was a survivor; she had seen some of the worst the galaxy had to offer in her time in AIS yet had somehow maintained a hopeful outlook on the universe.

Therefore, she did not flinch when Garrus growled out "_Murder? Murder _is betraying your friends. _Murder_ is selling out your brothers-in-arms who you'd sworn to protect. This. Is. Not. Murder."

"It's certainly not justice." Alice shot back "Remember Garrus, I know what revenge can do to a person."

Oh, yes. Alice knew revenge _very_ well…

… "Stay back! I've got no grief with you! All I want is this bastard!" the mercenary holding a gun to the scientist's head said as John entered the room with Alice, Ashley and Kaidan trailing behind him.

The scientist whimpered to John "Please, he's a madman!" he turned to the mercenary "Mr. Toombs, you're insane! You need help!"

The name Toombs sent a shiver down Alice's spine. _Toombs? But… it can't be…_

"Shut up!" the mercenary snapped at the scientist "You don't get to lie! You don't…"

"Toombs?"

Her old squadmate froze as Alice stepped forward, removing her helmet. "L-Lieutenant Shepard? _Lieutenant Alice Shepard_? Oh my God is that you?"

John cast Alice a confused look "Um… you know this guy Al'?"

Alice nodded, "Yeah, Corporal Toombs was… was on my squad on Akuze." She turned back to the marine she had believed dead for all these years. "I thought you were dead! I saw the Thresher Maw pull you under!" she didn't bother trying to hide the relief in her voice. She wasn't alone, someone else had survived!

Toombs' eyes darkened "They took me Alice, the scientists."

Alice's eyes narrowed and she glared at the scientist. "What do you mean, 'they took you'?"

The scientist panicked "You can't prove anything!" He turned pleading eyes on John "This man is delusional!"

"Like hell I am!" Toombs growled "They were running tests on the Thresher Maws! They let those things hit us just to watch and study! I woke up in a holding cell. The scientists were delighted I'd survived. Now they had someone to run tests on."

The fury was lit inside Alice like a fuse on a ticking bomb. "What did those bastards do to you?"

"You can't believe him!" the scientist begged "He doesn't have any proof!" he focused his attention back on John "You, you're the commanding officer here right? I demand a fair trial!"

Alice was surprised when Kaidan spoke up "Alice was _there_. She knows the truth."

"Their part of some organization, Cerberus. They run secret tests like this." Toombs continued darkly "I was treated like a lab animal." He looked back at Alice, "This man deserves to die, Alice. For you, for me, for everyone else in the unit! Are you with me?"

Alice pulled out her gun and aimed it at the scientist "Even better, I'll kill this son of a bitch myself."

"You can't kill me? You have no idea who you're dealing with!" the scientist cried.

"Oh yeah? Try me." Alice said darkly.

"Alice…" she paid no heed to John's warning tone.

"Damn it Alice, this is my kill to make!" Toombs growled out "You got out with a few scratches and a scary reputation; I'm the one they fucking _tortured_!"

"Nobody's killing anybody." Alice gaped in shock as John stepped forward.

"John, what are you-?"

"You're better than this Alice," John focused his gaze on his sister "You're not like them." Alice lowered her gun and ducked her head in shame. _Damn you're Speech and Debate courses._ John turned to Toombs "And neither are you."

"Don't tell me who I am!" Toombs snarled "I was tortured for _years_! Who are you to judge me?"

John straightened his back and all but loomed over Toombs "I'm Commander John Carn Shepard of the Alliance Navy, Hero of-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Ashley cut in "You're middle name is _Carn_?"

"Not now Chief…" Shepard growled before continuing "Hero of Elysium and first human Spectre."

Toombs eyes widened "_You're_ Alice's twin brother?" He looked between them "Bullshit, you look nothing like her! And like hell there's a human Spectre! The Council would never agree to that!"

"You haven't been in touch with galactic society lately have you?" Ashley quipped dryly.

"Ash…"

"Sorry sir."

"Alice, you know he deserves to die! Just let me do it!" Toombs pleaded.

Alice glanced at Toombs; she wanted _someone_ to pay for what happened to her squad, but was killing this scientist really the answer? She unfortunately would never know the answer because John answered for her. "They tried to turn you into a monster, don't become what they want you to be."

Toombs seemed to think what John had said over for a long time before finally lowering his gun. "O-Okay, you're right, I'm no murderer. Just as long as he goes to trial." He put his head in his hands and mumbled "Maybe the screaming will stop now…"

Alice put a hand on Toombs shoulder "It's over Toombs, they can't hurt you anymore."

Toombs looked at Alice "Maybe…" His eyes darkened while John called Joker to tell him to let the Fifth Fleet know to come and pick the scientist up. "The vids say you're the only one to survive Akuze." He shrugged "Who am I to argue?"

Alice's eyes widened as she realized what Toombs was about to do. "Wait, don't-"

She was too late. In a flash Toombs raised the gun to his head and, eyes locked with Alice's; pulled the trigger…

…Alice had no doubt that Toombs would have pulled the trigger, even if he had killed the scientist.

Now, she couldn't help but feel that the same madness that had claimed Toombs was on the verge of claiming Garrus.

When her brother waved Sidonis down, Alice made sure Garrus wasn't looking her way and activated her stealth cloak. She moved behind Sidonis, unknown to anyone else, prepared to stop him if he tried to escape before John could talk Garrus down and, if necessary, throw him out of the way of Garrus' shot.

"Let's hurry up and get this done." Sidonis said, looking around nervously.

She heard Garrus over the com **"Shepard, you're in my shot, move to the side."**

She knew what her brother would do next, as much as he tried to deny it, John Shepard could be fairly predictable at times. "Listen Sidonis, I'm here to help you."

The turian's eyes widened "Don't ever say that name out loud!"

John continued "I'm a friend of Garrus', he wants you dead but I'm hoping that's not necessary."

Alice almost winced as Garrus' growl came over the com **"Damn it Shepard! If he moves, I'm taking the shot!"**

Saying Sidonis seemed to be more than a little worried by this would be the understatement of the year. "Garrus? Is this some kind of joke?" He held up his hand before John could respond "You know what, I don't want to know. I'm getting out of here."

Sidonis turned to leave and was about to walk right into Alice when John grabbed his arm "Don't. Move."

Sidonis pulled his arm free of John's grasp "Get off me!"

"I'm the only thing standing between you and a hole in the head." John said sharply.

Sidonis bowed his head and said what anyone in his position would "Fuck."

He raised his head and met John's gaze and started talking, like he could see though him and right to Garrus. "Look, I didn't want to do it, I didn't have a choice."

Garrus snarled **"Everyone has a choice."**

Sidonis glanced away "They… They got to me, were going to kill me if I didn't do what they asked. What was I supposed to do?"

Alice felt disgust at the traitor's admission. **"Let me take the shot Shepard, he's a damn coward!" **For half a second Alice almost agreed with him.

_No, you're not doing this for Sidonis, you're doing this for Garrus_.

"So that's it?" John asked as Sidonis walked to the side, both he and Alice matching him pace for pace. "You were just trying to save yourself?"

Alice recognized the tone in John's voice; he thought there was more to the story. _What are you up to John?_

Sidonis leaned against a bench "I know what I did. I know that they died because of me, and I have to live with that." He said sadly "I wake up every night…sick… and sweating, their faces staring back at me… accusing me." He bowed his head "I'm already a dead man, I don't sleep, food has no taste." He sighed "Some days I just want it to be over…"

"**Just give me the chance." **Garrus pleaded.

John shook his head "You've got to let it go Garrus; he's already paying for his crime."

"**He hasn't paid enough, he still has his life."** Garrus insisted.

At that moment, John stepped to the side, giving Garrus a clear view of Sidonis. Alice tensed, ready to spring into action and push Sidonis to the ground if Garrus tried to take the shot. "Look at him Garrus, he's not alive. There's nothing left to kill."

"**My men deserve better."**

Sidonis spoke up "Tell Garrus…" he shook his head "I guess there's nothing I can do to make it right…" with those last words Sidonis bowed his head and closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

The silence that followed was the longest three seconds of Alice's life. Finally, Garrus said **"No, there isn't Sidonis."**

Alice's eyes widened…

John raised his head to look at where Garrus was hidden, whispering "Don't do it Garrus…"

Garrus' finger curled around the trigger…

Alice moved faster than she had in her whole life, using all of her meager biotics to push Sidonis to the ground, he cloak falling away…

A shot rang out…

And everything was silent…

Time seemed to be in slow motion. Alice looked down at Sidonis, he seemed unharmed, a little dazed perhaps but otherwise…

_Wait, if Sidonis didn't get hit, then where did the bullet go…?_

Realization dawned on her and she looked down at her chest. There, just above where her heart should be was a hole in her armor, blood pouring from it.

_Oh…_

When she had pushed Sidonis to the ground, the bullet had continued and hit her instead. Alice began to feel light-headed and her knees buckled under her.

As she fell, both to the ground and into oblivion, her last thought was: _Not my brightest idea…_

**A/N: Gotta love Cliffy Town! As always, please let me know what I did well and what I can improve on!**


	6. Forgiveness

**A/N: Sorry I left you guys hanging. Here's the update.**

6: Forgiveness

"ALICE!"

Everything had happened so fast, yet amazingly, so slowly too. Shepard had barely had time process Alice's sudden appearance behind Sidonis as she pushed him to the ground with her biotics. Then the shot sounded and Alice had just stood there for a moment, seeming confused, then she had looked down at the small hole in her chest where the round pierced her armor and collapsed.

Her name was torn from his lips in a wild cry that ripped the very air asunder. _Oh God no, oh God please no, oh God please, not Alice, no please_. He rushed to her side, medi-gel already prepared. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Garrus recklessly drop from the catwalk and sprint toward Alice's motionless figure, eyes wide in horror at what he had done. John ignored Sidonis, who had recovered and was just now figuring out what happened, and knelt by Alice's side.

He rolled her onto her back and quickly undid the latches of her chestplate. For most wounds, hardsuits had built in medi-gel dispensers that took care of things long enough for the person to be moved to someplace they could be patched up. Unfortunately, there was only so much medi-gel could do and right now, he needed to stop the bleeding lest she die from blood loss. Hardsuits weren't designed to seal wounds and for something this, the sooner the blood stopped leaking the better.

John got the front of Alice's chestplate off, leaving her modesty only protected by the tight undersuit worn beneath. John applied another layer of medi-gel over the already existing layer placed by the hardsuit. While standard medi-gel couldn't miraculously heal wounds instantly or stop bleeding, it could dull pain, aid the blood clotting process along for lesser wounds, help keep the wound from growing worse while the wounded was moved to another location.

John pressed his hands over the wound and began applying pressure. He cast a worried look at Alice's face. Her eyes had fallen shut and her tanned skin had become almost deathly pale. _Come on Alice, don't do this to me. Damn it, why didn't pay better attention in first aid training?_

Garrus came up and knelt on Alice's other side. "Shepard, I-I didn't- it wasn't- I had already- I'm so- Oh Spirits…" Garrus gave up and just grasped Alice's hand in his "Please forgive me Alice, Spirits please…"

John ignored Garrus; all that mattered right now was saving Alice. He became aware of a third person crouching next to Alice and turned to see Sidonis, kneeling next to him. "Here, I'm a medic, let me-"

Garrus' head snapped up and he growled at Sidonis, causing him to recoil. "_Don't touch her_!"

At hearing Garrus' growl, something inside John snapped. He raised his head and shot Garrus a glare so strong that it could have disintegrated Sovereign. "Vakarian shut the fuck up and go make yourself useful. Let the Normandy know Alice has been critically wounded thanks to _you_ and tell them to send Chakwas immediately." Shepard would probably feel bad later about how he took some perverse pleasure from the way Garrus winced and seemed to shrink at his words as he moved from Alice's side. At the moment however, he couldn't care less about Garrus' feelings. "Sidonis come here and do anything you can until Chakwas gets here."

Sidonis took Garrus' spot "The docks are too far away, even by aircar. There's a clinic not far from here, if we take her there they can keep her stabilized long enough for your doctor to get here."

"Alright, Garrus tell Joker we'll be at the clinic and wait for her." John commanded.

He and Sidonis picked Alice up and carried her as fast as they could while still being careful of her wound. They arrived at the clinic within minutes and the doctor there, an asari with a human assistant, immediately instructed them to take Alice back. She was surprisingly calm for having a human in N7 armor and a civilian carry in a critically injured woman (then again, it is the Wards). The doctor and her assistant kicked John out once he and Sidonis lay Alice down on an operating table and the only reason Sidonis was allowed to stay was because he convinced the doctor he had medical experience.

John was pacing back and forth in the waiting area when Garrus came in with Chakwas carrying a medkit following him. "Where is she?" Chakwas immediately asked. John led her to the back where Sidonis, the doctor, and her assistant were already working on Alice. John returned to the waiting room where Garrus was sitting in one of the chairs. He stood when John entered.

"What's going on?" he asked urgently.

"They're stabilizing Alice so that she can make the trip back to the Normandy." John gave the turian a dark look. "They all seemed very nervous. I think they're worried Alice won't make it."

Garrus' eyes widened in horror and he slowly sank back down into the chair. "Shepard, I'm-"

"Save it." John snapped. "It's because of _you_ that she's hurt in the first place!"

"It was an accident!" the look on Garrus' face showed he instantly realized this was the wrong thing to say.

"An _accident_?" John's fury lit up like a furnace. "An _ACCIDENT_?" His biotics flared, wreathing him in blue flames. "There's no way it was just an ACCIDENT! Alice had already pushed Sidonis out of the way then you pulled the damn trigger!"

"I-"

"What it _was_ was you having Goddamn TUNNEL VISION!"

"I would never intentionally hurt Alice!" Garrus pleaded.

That was the wrong thing to say. John snapped and, with a howl of feral rage, he picked Garrus up with his biotics and threw him so hard he broke through the wall, landing outside the clinic and startling several passerbys. John stepped through the hole he had made and marched up to Garrus. Before the turian had time to recover, John had grabbed him by the throat with his biotics and lifted him up into the air.

Garrus gasped for breath as John slowly started crushing his throat. "-S-Shep-c-can't-"

"Listen to me Vakarian and listen well." John said darkly, cutting him off "You better damn well hope Alice makes it because if she doesn't…" his voice lowered to a menacing whisper "I will _personally_ shove your ass out the airlock." He stepped closer so his face was inches from Garrus' "Do you know what it's like to be spaced Vakarian? I do, and I can assure you it is _not_ a pleasant way to go." With that he released the gasping turian, letting him fall to the ground. John turned on his heel and marched away, leaving Garrus laying there trying to reclaim his breath.

…

Dr. Chakwas managed to get Alice stabilized for transport to the Normandy in a shuttle. Once she had Alice in the medbay, the doctor had darkened the medbay's windows and locked the door while she and Mordin worked to save Alice's life. Shepard had gone up to the CIC to try and distract himself with work until news came. Garrus had holed himself up in the main battery and was just sitting on his cot staring at the bottle of liquor in his hands. He hand disabled EDI's camera's and gotten the bottle out from his stash.

Currently, he was sipping the drink, brooding over what Shepard had said to him. Had he really gotten tunnel vision? Had he been so focused on revenge that he hadn't even registered that _Alice_ was the one in his scope, not Sidonis? He took another drink from the bottle thinking back to a better time…

… "Ash, stop it." Shepard said, sounding annoyed.

"I'm just wondering what kind of name is 'Carn'?" Ashley insisted. "It sounds pretty lame."

"It's my dad's name for crying out loud!" Shepard said "It's short for Carnegie!"

Ashley cracked up. "_Carnegie_? Oh man that's even worse!"

Garrus couldn't take it anymore "Um… What's going on?" he asked, stopping his work on the Mako and went over to Ashley's station where the Chief was teasing Shepard.

"The Commander's middle name is _Carnegie_." Ashley said with a smirk.

"Carn! _Carn_!" Shepard cried "It even says so on my birth certificate!"

Garrus' mandible fluttered into a frown "I don't understand."

"Some humans have these things called 'middle names' " Ashley started to explain "They're basically-"

"I know what middle names are, turians have them too." Garrus cut her off "What I want to know is why having the middle name 'Carn' is amusing."

"Well, I guess _Carn_ isn't that funny, just odd." Ashley admitted "but _Carnegie_ IS funny."

Garrus cocked his head to the side, still confused "Huh?"

Shepard groaned "It's one of those names like 'Leonard', or 'Sheldon' that aren't very common because they just sound '_lame_'."

Garrus' eyes widened in recognition "Oh," he shot a glare at Ashley "So it's one of those names that immature children pick on one another for having?"

Ashley, to her credit, wasn't put off by Garrus at all "Speaking from experience there big guy?"

Garrus, taken aback, fumbled with his words "W-What? N-No! It's not-"

From his usual spot nearby, Wrex barked out a laugh. "Hah! I was wondering why I hadn't met many turians named Garrus, now I know!"

The poor turian in question bristled "Garrus is a perfectly respectable turian name!"

"You know…" Shepard mused, apparently relieved that the topic was no longer on him "When you think about it, Garrus does sound pretty weird." He immediately started sounding out the syllables to Garrus' name. "_Garr_-us. Garr-_us. _GAWR-us, Garr-OOS…"

"Stop butchering my name!" Garrus cried.

"GAYR-us, GOWR-us…"

"Now you're just adding sounds that aren't there…"

..._Okay, maybe not the best example of "better times"…_ Garrus thought bitterly. He took another drink from the bottle and checked the time on his omni-tool. _It's been hours, how long is this going to take?_ At that moment, Shepard's voice came over the intercom.

"**Garrus, could you meet me in the com room?"**

Garrus' heartbeat accelerated as he slid the bottle back into its hiding place and got to his feet. _He's got news on Alice probably. Or he's decided to just get it over with and kill me now…_ he exited the main battery and walked through the blissfully uncrowded mess, it still being the middle of the shift. Unfortunately, he had to endure the way the mess' few occupants did look at him as he passed. He could feel the accusing glares on him as he walked by. He endured the slow elevator ride up to the CIC and marched through the empty tech lab to the com room. Inside he found Shepard leaning against the table, his head in his hands. Garrus took a deep breath and stood at attention, waiting to be acknowledged.

He wasn't. After several minutes of waiting, Garrus cautiously cleared his throat. "You… wanted to see me Commander?"

It was another minute before Shepard raised his head and looked at Garrus, and when he did, Garrus was taken aback by what he saw there. He had expected Shepard to be angry or distraught, but what he didn't expect was for Shepard's expression to be cold. Empty.

Dead.

"Get off my ship Garrus." He whispered so quietly that it took Garrus a minute to register what he'd said.

"_What_?" Garrus said, dumbstruck.

"You heard me Vakarian." Shepard's voice was colder than Noveria. "Grab your things, and get the hell off my ship."

Garrus stammered, "What- but I- I didn't mean-"

"I don't care what you _meant_," Shepard spat out "You _shot_ my _sister_. You're leaving through that airlock. Whether or not we're still docked when you do is up to you."

"B-But…" Garrus didn't know what to say. "Chakwas can save Alice!"

"Garrus…"

"She and Mordin are working together; they should be able to-"

"GARRUS!" Shepard snapped, immediately causing the turian to shut his mouth. He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. Finally, he spoke. "I… I just talked to Chakwas…"

Garrus gulped "A-Alice is fine right?"

"Garrus… Alice is dead…"

Garrus recoiled as though struck. "N-No… Y-You're lying… S-She can't…"

He didn't wait for Shepard's response. Garrus turned and fled the room. Time seemed to move in slow motion as he ran through the armory, past a surprised Jacob, through the CIC and into the elevator, urgently pushing the button for the third floor repeatedly. As the elevator moved, Garrus' mind moved a mile a minute. _She can't be, Shepard's wrong, she can't be, she can't-_ Horror gripped him at his next thought.

_My fault_.

He'd failed again, Garrus had failed. What good was he? He couldn't even avenge his men properly. He had just killed one of the only friends he had left in this damn universe, and alienated the other. He made up his mind. He… he would go see Alice, one last time, and then he would end it, once and for all.

He rushed out of the elevator and toward the medbay, time seeming to go even slower as he reached his destination. The doors opened excruciatingly slow. When he finally did enter he looked toward the only occupied bed in the room and saw…

"Hey Garrus."

Alice smiled at him from the bed, wearing one of those hospital gowns and Chakwas standing next to her. Garrus gaped "Y-You're _alive_?"

Alice looked confused "Last time I checked…"

Garrus was, understandably, having a little trouble comprehending what he was seeing and matching it to what Shepard had told him. "B-But Shepard told me…" His eyes widened as he realized what _precisely_ Shepard had done.

"THAT SON OF A-!"

…

On the bridge, Shepard, Jack, Zaeed, and Joker were all laughing uproariously as the vid feed from the medbay was cut. "Oh man…" Joker said between breaths and fits of laughter. "That was priceless!"

"You… you should have seen his face when I told him…" Shepard said, wiping a tear from his eye while he tried to reign in his chuckles. "It… oh man… it was like I'd shot his puppy… it took all my willpower to not tell him 'just kidding'…"

Jack was still cackling "Where'd you learn to act that well Shepard?"

"I… hehe… took some drama classes in high school…" Shepard managed to get out before he burst into laughter again. "Oh man that was so worth it…"

Off to the side, Jacob and Miranda stood, looking less amused by the 'prank'. EDI's avatar popped up "I fail to see the humor of the situation."

"You're not the only one." Jacob said, shooting the laughing pranksters a glare.

"Oh come on Jacob!" Shepard said "Lighten up!"

"It was not funny Commander." Miranda said disapprovingly.

"No," Zaeed said "It was God'amn hilarious!"

"Come on Miranda," Shepard said, saddling up to the Cerberus operative and slinging an arm around her shoulders, ignoring the glare she sent him at this "It's not like Garrus didn't deserve it."

Miranda's glare could have disintegrated Shepard on the spot. "Remove. Your. Arm."

Shepard quickly removed his arm and backed away from the scary Cerberus operative in sexy spandex. "He _shot_ Alice! -Albeit accidentally- I can't just let him not suffer for that somehow!"

"So you thought telling him Alice was dead and letting him live with that grief, however briefly, would be a suitable punishment?" Jacob said with a shake of his head.

"Excuse me?" Everyone turned to see Kelly standing just inside the cockpit "Did I hear correctly? You told Garrus Alice was dead when she wasn't in order to get back at Garrus for accidentally shooting her?"

Sheppard walked over to Kelly with a grin on his face. "Yes I d-"

_SMACK!_

Shepard reached up to feel where Kelly had slapped his cheek, the area still stinging from the blow. Kelly looked coldly at Shepard right in the eye. "Remember what I said about feeling honored to work with you Commander? Forget it." With that she turned on her heel and marched out of the cockpit, leaving a shocked audience behind.

After a minute of stunned silence had passed, Jacob whistled "_Damn_…"

…

Garrus sat next to Alice's bed, "Alice, I'm so…"

"Stop right there." Alice said, raising her hand. "Don't you dare start the pity party on me Vakarian; I was the one who decided to stand stealthed behind Sidonis. I'm the one who pushed him out of the way and wound up getting hit instead."

Garrus shook his head "Yeah but _shot_-"

"-_At_ _Sidonis_." Alice finished for him. "I just happened to be stupid enough to be standing behind him when I pushed him out of the line of fire."

Garrus shook his head again. "No I pulled the trigger_ after_ you had pushed Sidonis away." He stared down at his hands, like he was blaming them for pulling the trigger of their own free will. "I… I was so blinded by revenge that I didn't even see it was you." He raised his head to meet her eyes "What good am I as a sniper if I can't even distinguish friend from foe." He bowed his head again "Shepard was right to kick me off the ship…"

"Woah, woah, woah! Wait, he _what_?" Alice asked, taken aback.

"Right before he said you were…" Garrus didn't seem able to finish that horrible thought.

Alice surprised herself as much as she did Garrus when she reached out and took his hand. "I'll talk to him about it, _along with_ why he told you I was dead."

Garrus didn't seem able to comprehend what she was saying. "Wait, y-you mean…"

Alice smiled "I forgive you Garrus."

**A/N: Yes, I know, the ending was cliché but I just couldn't help myself. For those of you who noticed, yes I did get the idea for Shepard's prank from Firefly. **

**As always, let me know what I did well and what I can improve on.**


	7. Temptation Part 1

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, family stuff hindered my ability to write. On a side note, has anyone else encountered "in-text advertising" in stories as well?**

7: Temptation Part 1

Shepard had warned off by Chakwas that Alice was less than pleased by what he did to Garrus and that he should steer clear until she cooled down. Unfortunately for him, Alice was cleared to leave the medbay a few days after Garrus' visit, and she was _still_ angry. The first thing she did when she got out was go up to her brother's room. No one was entirely sure what happened up there but that evening, Alice had a very satisfied smirk on her lips and Shepard was jumping at shadows for the next week. When questioned about what happened, Shepard would mumble "I hate hanar clowns…"

Garrus was allowed to stay on the Normandy although he made a habit of saying he was busy with calibrations whenever somebody stopped by the main battery. He remained on the ship all through their stay on Illium and rarely left the battery except for meals. Alice, figuring he just needed time to accept that she really didn't blame him, spent her spare time conversing with the drell assassin they had just recruited called Thane. She was delighted to meet another biotic Infiltrator like herself and would often converse with him for hours over various infiltration techniques.

Garrus and Shepard rarely, if ever, spoke for several weeks. Then, out of the blue, Shepard brought him and Alice along to go pick up Tali. Garrus wasn't entirely sure why but Shepard seemed to have forgiven him all of a sudden. That only served in making Garrus more confused than ever. He also found that, because he hadn't replenished his stock of turian liquor on the Citadel or Illium, he was running low. He had to start conserving the amount he drank before going to bed but soon found it harder and harder to restrain himself at night. His dreams were starting to return and he was growing more and more irritable by the day. So, when Shepard announced that they were docking at Omega, Garrus was overjoyed. After all, shitty alcohol was still alcohol.

What he hadn't counted on was Shepard insisting that he go with him and the asari justicar Samara to find Samara's homicidal daughter Morinth. So, here Garrus was, pacing back and forth outside the door to Morinth's most recent victim Nef's apartment. Apparently, Morinth suffered from a rare asari genetic disorder that causes her nervous system to overwhelm her victim's whenever she does that "Embrace Eternity" thing, and killing her victim.

_Lovely_, Garrus mused bitterly,_ a serial sex-killer_.

When Shepard and Samara finally emerged from the apartment, Garrus asked "So what's the plan?"

"I'm going to be bait." Shepard replied, clearly _thrilled_. "I'm going to go into the VIP section of Afterlife unarmed, without backup, and try to draw Morinth's attention. Once I lure her away, Samara will strike."

" 'Unarmed, without back up'?" Garrus shook his head "I don't know Shepard, Miranda will kill me if you die, Alice will kill me if you get even a scratch on you, and Ashley will not only kill me, she'll rip out my tongue, scale me with a rusty knife, unload several clips from a Revenant into me, shoot me with the Cain, and then stomp on what's left for good measure if I let you within 500 meters of Morinth."

Shepard grinned "Glad to know you care so much about me Garrus."

"Perhaps he has a point Commander," Samara suggested "I won't be able to watch you in the club without risking Morinth recognizing me, Garrus however can." She turned to Garrus "Keep your com connected to mine at all times and head over to the VIP section now. Drop the name Jaruut to get in. keep to the shadows and don't draw attention to yourself. Shepard will be along shortly after he's changed."

"Changed?" Shepard frowned "Into what?"

"Surely you don't expect to draw Morinth out in armor?" Samara said, a smile twitching at her lips. "Kasumi said she had the 'perfect' outfit for you."

Shepard groaned "On, joy…"

Garrus chuckled at Shepard's discomfort and left for Afterlife's VIP section. After getting past the bouncer, Garrus went into the club and immediately headed for the bar. He took a seat next to a krogan in Blood Pack armor and ordered a turian beer. _After all, what's wrong with a drink or two_?

He took a sip from the glass and noticed the krogan was glaring at him. "Looking for your next meal?" he quipped "I wouldn't recommend it, dextro meat is _very_ unhealthy for levo species, even krogan."

The krogan snorted "I prefer salarian anyways." He said, turning to grin harshly at a salarian seated nearby. The krogan turned back to Garrus and frowned again. "You look familiar." Garrus had been taking another drink when he'd said this and choked, coughing the beer back up. The krogan continued "You with the Blue Suns?"

Garrus eyed the krogan incredulously "Why do you say that?"

"You're wearing blue armor."

Garrus laughed and boldly patted the krogan on the hump, earning a growl. "Congratulations, you're eyes work!"

The krogan continued to growl at Garrus. "You mocking me turian?"

Garrus was about to make a witty retort when an asari cried on the dance floor "Get lost asshole!"

Garrus turned in his seat and saw an asari dancer getting harassed by a turian who'd had one drink too many, and then some. Garrus turned back to his beer. _Not your concern Vakarian, security will handle it._ He looked around; where _was_ security?

"Hey turian, answer the question!" the krogan barked.

"I said get lost!" the dancer cried.

Garrus' talons clenched around the bottle, "Excuse me." He got to his feet and marched over to where the drunken turian was harassing the dancer.

"Come _on_…" the turian slurred "We can go back to my place, I've got simple tastes."

"I'm a dancer not a hooker dumbass!" The asari's biotics glowed "So unless you want your balls ripped out, I suggest you BACK OFF!"

The turian grabbed the asari's forearm. "Oohoo, feisty! I like 'em feisty!"

The asari's violet eyes flashed and Garrus knew he had to act fast before the asari made good on her threat. He tapped the drunken turian on the shoulder. "I believe the lady told you to leave her alone."

The turian turned and glared at Garrus. "Back off buddy, find your own whore."

The asari's eyes turned murderous. "_What_ did you just call me?"

Garrus didn't let the turian answer. "Why don't you head on home now pal before the good lady decides to kill you."

The drunken turian released the asari. "Why? I'm just looking for a good time!"

Garrus sighed as the asari's expression became furious. _This idiot is going to get himself killed at this rate._ Doing the only thing he could think of, Garrus punched the turian in the jaw, dropping him like a stone. "Good times are over."

The asari glared at Garrus, "I could handle him."

Garrus cocked a brow plate. "If by 'handle him' you mean reduce him to a bloody smear on the dance floor then yeah. Unfortunately, that would ruin everybody's evening." He gestured to her arm where the turian had grabbed her, resulting in deep scratches "You better get that looked at."

The asari eyed him for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, whatever." She walked past him and headed toward the entrance.

Garrus watched her go for a moment before shaking his head and heading back towards the bar. Garrus sat back down next to the krogan. He took another drink from his beer and noticed that the krogan was glaring at him again. "Yes, what is it this time?"

"You look _really_ familiar…" the krogan said.

Before Garrus could reply he heard someone whisper. "We hit them in the alley. So long as it's not one of Aria's people we should be fine."

Garrus snarled and turned toward the shadows where two turians were huddled close together, speaking to one another. "Excuse me again." He said

"Hey wait, you're-" Garrus was gone before the krogan could finish.

Garrus marched to the two turians, "I'm sorry," he said, rage building inside him "but I could have sworn I heard you two planning to mug someone."

"So what if you did?" one of the turians snarled.

Garrus took a menacing step forward. "I'm not going to let that happen."

The other turian sneered "And just who do you think you are?"

"I know who he is!" Garrus spun around and saw the Krogan from the bar marching towards him. The krogan snarled and pointed a stubby finger at Garrus. "That's Archangel!"

The entire room fell silent as every single patron turned to look at Garrus. Soon, murmurs started spreading through the club.

"Archangel?"

"I heard he was dead."

"How did he survive?"

"No wonder they never found his body."

"You've got a lot of nerve coming here Archangel."

Slowly, several of the patrons, particularly those in mercs' uniforms started closing in on Garrus, surrounding him. Then, a human male from somewhere in the mob cried "Let's get him!"

_Oh shit!_

The mob charged and Garrus moved like he had never moved before. He had been one of the best hand-to-hand combat specialists in the turian military, and that night he proved why. He dodged punches and improvised weapons, he countered with swift strikes that immediately incapacitated everything but a krogan. It helped that many in the mob were at least slightly drunk and therefore, fairly easy to take down. Garrus held off the onslaught for what felt like hours until finally, he was the last one standing.

Garrus heard someone clapping and turned to see an asari wearing a skintight black outfit emerge from the shadows. "Well done," the asari said "that was…_exhilarating_."

"And you are?" Garrus asked although he already suspected who.

The asari smiled, her face was so much like her mother's "Oh, of course how rude of me. I'm Morinth, and _you_ are the most interesting person in this place."

**A/N: Oh, hello Cliffy Town! How nice to see you again! As always, let me know what I did well and what I can improve on.**


	8. Temptation Part 2

8: Temptation Part 2

"You look _so_ handsome."

John groaned at Alice teasing "Shut up sis." Alice was accompanying him and Samara to Afterlife's VIP section.

"I should _totally_ take a picture and send it to Ashley." Alice said, activating her omni-tool.

John winced "Please don't."

"Why not?" Alice asked innocently. "She'll be all over you like a pyjak on a buffet."

"If you do," John started to say "I swear I will- What the hell?" They had arrived at the entrance to the VIP section to find it swarming with Aria's goons.

"This is not a good sign." Samara said grimly.

"I hope Garrus' okay…" Alice whispered, searching the crowd for the turian.

"Hold it," a batarian goon said as they approached "This area is strictly off limits."

"Why? What happened?" John asked.

"Your turian friend started a brawl Shepard." A booming voice spoke up and a familiar krogan emerged from the crowd. He looked John over and snorted "Nice outfit Shepard."

"Patriarch," John acknowledged the elderly krogan he had saved from assassins the last time he was on Omega "What are you talking about?"

"A bunch of mercs figured out your friend was Archangel and jumped him." Patriarch explained.

"Is he okay?" Alice asked, worried.

Patriarch glanced at her "He took down all the mercs that attacked him. Although, if he's still okay now he soon won't be."

"What do you mean?" John demanded.

"After the fight an asari started talking to him. She was apparently very impressed with his skills and they ended up leaving together." Patriarch explained.

"Who?" Alice asked even thought she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach she already knew. _Please, oh God, please not her, not with Garrus._

"The one you're looking for, the Ardat-Yakshi, Morinth."

_Damn_ "Where's her apartment?" Alice asked quickly.

"Not far from here, I'll get someone to take you there." Patriarch turned to go get them a guide.

Alice turned to John. "Head back to the ship and tell Miranda what happened, Samara and I will go after Morinth."

John cocked an eyebrow. "That's funny; I thought _I _was the commander here."

"_John_…"

"I'm going, I'm going."

Patriarch soon returned with a batarian goon. "He'll take you to Morinth's apartment."

Samara nodded "Good, let us be on our way."

Alice nodded I agreement. _I'm coming Garrus._

…

_Let's see… a board for some strange human game called chess… a freaky statue of a krogan… wait, is that a sword?_ Garrus looked around Morinth's apartment, stalling for time. He wasn't entirely sure why he had agreed to go with Morinth. Part of him reasoned that she might go to ground again if he let her go. Someone had to have seen him leave with her. Shepard and Samara would be along any minute now and kill her. He just had to stall for time and _damn_ did Morinth have a nice fringe (or whatever those tentacle things asari have on their heads is called).

"So…" Garrus turned at the sound of Morinth's voice. The asari temptress was currently sprawled seductively on the couch. "Archangel… I heard that he was a vigilante who caused some _real_ trouble for the mercs around here for a while. They eventually all ganged up to bring him down." She flashed him an alluring smile "Sounds exciting…" she breathed, her voice sending tingles down his spine.

Garrus found himself smiling as he sat down next to her. "Well it was fun. Those idiots just kept coming and I just kept dropping them. One of the hardest battles of my life."

Morinth's smile broadened and she snuggled closer to Garrus. "Really? What about your time under Commander Shepard? I'm sure you were in more than your fair share of hairy situations."

Garrus laughed "Maybe, but I spent half my time working with Shepard trying to keep the damn Mako from falling apart. Say what you will about his skill in battle but when it comes to driving, that man is a nightmare."

Morinth laughed; a strangely chilling yet fascinating sound. "I'm sure." She stretched out her slender fingers and stroked the scarred side of Garrus' face. "Have I mentioned how _sexy_ I find scars?" she whispered, her fingers sent lightning coursing through his nerves with every caress.

Garrus found himself leaning into her touch, relishing in it. Spirits, she was amazing, everything about her screamed at him to grab her and take her right there. Make her _his_.

_Stop right there soldier!_ He scolded himself, withdrawing from Morinth's touch. _Don't let her get the better of you! _

Morinth must have felt Garrus' resistance because her smile faltered for a moment. She quickly regained her confidence and smiled once more, removing her hand from Garrus' scarred cheek. Morinth got to her feet and walked over to her apartment's kitchen, asking innocently. "Would you like a drink? I have some turian wine."

Garrus froze. _Just say no Vakarian, just say no. _Garrus struggled with the burning desire for alcohol that filled him. _You're stronger than this._ Before he could respond, Morinth returned with a glass of wine in hand, offering it to him. _How long has it been since you had a good drink?_ He found himself thinking back to that unfinished beer in Afterlife's VIP section. _Surely one glass couldn't hurt_. Garrus' hand twitched for the glass, battling with himself.

Morinth's cool voice trickled like water down his ears and into his brain when she said "You're an alcoholic aren't you?"

Garrus' eyes snapped to hers at those words. Morinth's lips curled triumphantly as she straddled his lap. "It's alright…" she said, leaning forward to reassuringly whisper in his ear "Even Archangels have their vices."

Garrus gave in. He took the glass from Morinth's fingers and downed the wine in a single gulp. Garrus' mandibles flared in a wide smile as he tilted his head back, relishing in the buzz that swept through him. _Wait a second_ the rational part of Garrus' mind spoke up. _One glass of wine hasn't been enough to give me such a large buzz in years_. Garrus' vision began to cloud over as realization dawned on him. _She's drugged it!_

Garrus fought to regain control as Morinth's voice echoed through the haze. "Don't fight it, _relax_, everything is all right." She then whispered those two fatal words.

"_Embrace Eternity…_"

Pain and pleasure in equal measure lanced through Garrus' mind, setting his nerves aflame. He tried to fight it, tried to throw up mental barricades to ward off the assault but Morinth just broke through. _"Don't fight it_." Morinth's voice urged "_Give in._"

Garrus continued to struggle, grasping desperately at anything he could use to shield himself. His father, his mother, his sister, his squad, his buddies from C-Sec, Kaidan, Wrex, Liara, Ashley, Joker, Tali, Shepard, all were thrown aside by Morinth's relentless onslaught.

Alice.

Suddenly the pain and pleasure lessened as he thought of her laugh, the way the light glinted of her black hair, her striking blue eyes, so similar to his own. He thought of how her eyes would narrow and her lips would purse when she was annoyed with her brother, the way her brows furrowed when she was thinking, how the corners of her mouth would twitch when she was teasing. He remembered how on the SR-1 they would laugh at Shepard's blatant attraction to Ashley, the glint she got in her eyes when she told him about the trouble she and Shepard would get up to as kids, everything. He built a wall around his core, protecting himself from Morinth's assault.

"_What_? _No_!"

Morinth's cry of outrage did not distract Garrus. He recalled the smell of her hair, how she had hugged him when he'd left the medbay after his injury. How she held his hand as she showed led him up to her brother and the rush that had sent through him. He recalled the unbearable guilt he felt after he'd shot her, the crushing despair when he'd thought she'd died, and the uplifting sense of joy and relief when Alice had forgiven him. Finally, he thought of that night after Horizon, when the whole universe seemed to disappear and there was only Alice.

Then, like a beacon of light, Alice's voice cut through the darkness. "LET HIM GO YOU BITCH!"

"Alice wait don't-"

_BANG!_

Samara's warning went unheeded as the gunshot boomed like a thunderclap, destroying the oppressive force that was Morinth's mind trying to break his. Garrus' last thought before he slipped away into sweet oblivion was of Alice's smiling face.

**A/N: We're almost done, one more chapter to go! Don't worry though; this won't be the last you see of Alice and Garrus by a long shot. As always, please let me know what I did well and what I can improve on.**


	9. Fallen Archangel

**A/N: Whew, thank God I got this done before I disappeared for two weeks to go canoeing in the boundary waters of Canada.**

9: Fallen Archangel

John looked at his private terminal, trying to rub sleep from his eyes. The Illusive Man had just sent him a message informing John that Cerberus had acquired some valuable intel that Liara would be interested in. He had also just asked John if he could investigate a Cerberus base or two (or ten) that had gone silent. John felt like he was nothing but an errand boy for the Illusive Man. _Shepard do this mission, Shepard investigate this planet, Shepard find this person, Shepard get this item. I can't do it because I'm too busy sipping scotch and slowly killing myself with cigarettes while looking all big and imposing with my freaky sun backdrop._

He glanced at the feed to the medbay he had set up. Alice was still sitting at Garrus' side, holding his hand while he slept. It had been several hours since Samara and Alice had returned to the Normandy with a comatose Garrus. During that time, Alice had hardly left his side, not to eat, not to sleep, not for anything.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes again, most of the crew was either asleep or out getting supplies on Omega. The Normandy was completely silent, so when EDI spoke up, John started. "Commander, there's an asari looking to speak with Officer Vakarian waiting outside the airlock."

John frowned, "Thanks EDI, I'll go talk to her."

"Logging you out Commander."

John pushed away from his terminal and headed toward the airlock. Just as EDI said, an asari was indeed pacing outside the airlock. She was tall for an asari, had lilac skin, and striking violet eyes. She was wearing ragged flight overalls and looked like she was ten seconds away from tearing her way into the Normandy with her bare hands. She ceased her pacing and spun to face John as he exited the ship.

"You Archangel's Commander?" She asked briskly.

John cocked an eyebrow, immediately falling into his Commander Shepard stance. "Yes, and you are?"

"Nyn," the asari said curtly. She nodded behind him into the ship "I heard the Ardat-Yakshi got to Archangel, he okay?"

Shepard crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe, what's it to you?"

Nyn glanced away "He… helped me out of a hairy situation in the club. I just wanted to know if he was alright."

Shepard nodded "Yeah, the doc says he'll recover. What sort of 'hairy situation'?"

Nyn shrugged "A drunken turian mistook 'dancer' to mean 'prostitute'. Archangel KO'd him before I could rip out the bastard's balls and stuff 'em down his throat. Probably saved my job, Aria doesn't like it when we brutally kill clients."

Shepard cocked an eyebrow "You're a dancer?"

Nyn shrugged "Part time, it's not my first choice but it pays the bills until I can find a ship looking for a pilot." She eyed Shepard "Say, do you need a pilot? I'm the best there is in the entire Terminus."

Shepard cracked a grin "I think our pilot might take issue with that."

"Does your pilot have almost a hundred years of smuggling experience under his belt?"

"No, but he does have experience flying in heavy combat zones, including the Battle of the Citadel." Shepard countered. "Besides, but we're not a smuggling vessel."

"Touché," the asari said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Well, let Archangel know that the asari he helped out at the club says thanks." She turned and started to walk away.

After a moment's consideration, John called after her "Hey,"

Nyn glanced back "Yeah?"

"What's your number?" John asked, activating his omni-tool.

Nyn cocked an asari equivalent of an eyebrow. "Sorry, pal, but I prefer krogans and batarians."

John smiled "And I already have a girlfriend. I was asking because I have someone on my crew with some underworld connections. She might be able to find you a job."

Nyn's eyes widened "Really?"

John continued to smile "Yeah, you said you were a smuggler right?"

A smile touched Nyn's lips as she activated her omni-tool, "Alright, sure, here it is." She shot John one last look before walking away "Thanks,"

John shook his head and headed back into the Normandy. _God, I'm such a sucker, I hope Kasumi doesn't mind that I just volunteered her for something without her permission._ He shot a glance at where Joker was asleep in the pilot's chair before heading back through the CIC, and toward the elevator. _Time to relieve Alice_. He pushed the button in the elevator for the third floor and patiently waited for decent to finish. As soon as the doors opened he walked out through the deserted mess and into the medbay.

Alice was still by Garrus' side when he came in, ignoring Chakwas as the doctor tried to convince Alice to get some rest. Chakwas threw up her hands in frustration when she saw John enter. "You talk some sense into her, Commander."

When Alice turned to her brother, John instantly noticed the exhaustion in her eyes. "I know you're worried about him Alice," he said calmly, walking up to her "But sitting here and fretting won't help him."

Alice shook her head "This is my fault, if I hadn't shot Morinth before Samara could break the connection he wouldn't be like this right now."

"You know that's not true," John put a comforting hand on Alice's shoulder "Samara said it herself, Garrus had already sufficiently shielded himself from Morinth, he's merely recuperating from the experience."

"But still-"

"No buts," John's expression softened "Get some sleep; I'll call you if anything changes."

Alice sighed in defeat and, giving Garrus' hand one last squeeze; she stood and left the medbay. John took Alice's place at Garrus' side and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He knew that if he were to doze off, he would only be plagued by nightmares. John shook his head and resumed his vigil over his comatose friend.

Finally after what felt like hours, John spoke. "She really cares about you, you know," he said to Garrus, knowing the turian couldn't hear him. "Part of me is angry, the part that doesn't want her to get hurt. The other part of me… envy's you two; I'd give anything for another day with Ash like before…" John laughed "It's ironic, after all those years when we were teenagers of Alice warning me that my curiosity about aliens would get me in trouble one of these days and she's the one to fall for a turian."

John sighed, "It's strange, everyone has changed these past two years and I've just skipped over that time. I'm out of sync with everything, the Alliance, the Council, the old crew, you, Ashley, even Alice. They're all different while I'm still the same." John put his head in his hands. "I've been having… nightmares… horrible, horrible nightmares. In them, everything I fear, all my doubts, come to the surface. What if I can't do this? What if I'm doomed to fail? I'm no hero, I'm just one man."

John fell silent and stayed that way for a long time. Finally, several hours later, Garrus started to stir. John got to his feet and called Chakwas. "Hey doc, he's waking up."

"Alice…"

John froze and looked at Garrus in astonishment. The turian was still asleep but he was mumbling incoherently. A second later, John could make out another few words. "Can it… wait…? Middle of… calibrations…"

John smirked; typical Garrus.

Chakwas arrived a few seconds later and scanned Garrus with her omni-tool. "His vitals are stable and I detect no anomalies in his brain waves, he should be fine physically."

Garrus' eyes cracked open as John returned to his side. His mandibles fluttered into a smile when he noticed John. "Hey Commander, I guess I'm still sexy enough to get all the girls, huh?"

John rolled his eyes and lightly punched Garrus' arm "In your dreams Garrus. How're you feeling?"

Garrus winced "Like hell. No offense to Samara but I think I'm going to steer clear of asari for a while."

John chuckled and turned to Chakwas "How long until he's fit for duty?"

"He'll be cleared to leave the medbay in a few hours but I strongly suggest another day's rest to make sure there are no problems before returning to duty." Chakwas said after examining Garrus' vitals.

Garrus sat up and looked around the medbay. "Where's Alice?"

Before John could answer, the medbay doors opened. John grinned "Well speak of the devil,"

Garrus turned and spread his mandibles in a smile. "Hey Alice, what's-"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Alice erupted, causing everyone within earshot to flinch. Alice marched right up to Garrus and gave him a tight hug. "That's the second time I thought I'd lost you! NEVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!" With that she promptly stormed out of the medbay leaving a shocked audience behind.

…

For the next day, Alice remained in her room, barring access to all who entered. Garrus, for his part, was as confused as he could be and, once he was released from the med bay, skulked in the main battery. John tried to speak with both Garrus and Alice only to be answered with "Calibrations…" and "Fuck off!" respectively. Joker tried to help by telling Garrus that the explanation for Alice's behavior was that she was just "PMSing" whatever that meant. Finally, once Garrus' shift was over, he sat down on his cot. Garrus put his head in his hands. Was Alice angry at him? What did he do wrong? Plus there was what happened while Morinth tried to mind-rape him. Why had thinking of Alice blocked Morinth? What did that mean? Garrus reached under his bed and took out his liquor stash. _Maybe a bottle or two will help clear my mind._ Garrus opened one of the bottles and was about to drown himself in it when Morinth's words echoed in his mind.

"_You're an alcoholic aren't you?"_

Garrus froze. Was what she said true? Was he really an alcoholic? He knew he drank a little more than most people but could he really be…?

_Everyone has their vices._

Disgust and anger at himself immediately swelled within Garrus as he looked down at the bottle. Morinth had used this; she had read him like an open book and used his… addiction to her advantage. Garrus' hands clenched as he looked at the source of his weakness.

_No more._

Garrus lifted the bottle up and threw it against the far wall as hard as he could.

…

Alice sighed as she paced her room. What was with her? Why had she acted that way? Garrus didn't deserve her anger or… whatever it was. It's not his fault they got put in life threatening situations on a daily basis. _Damn it_, why hadn't they sent Thane to be John's backup in the club? He'd have been perfect for the job.

_Because Garrus wouldn't trust an assassin to watch your brother's back._

Anger at the turian flared up again. Why did he have to be so God damned _stubborn_? Alice was about to find something to punch when EDI's hologram popped up. "Operative Shepard?"

Alice stopped pacing and turned toward the AI's avatar. "Yes EDI?"

"I suggest you head to the main battery, Officer Vakarian appears to be in great distress."

All of Alice's anger at Garrus evaporated, replaced with concern for her friend and she rushed from her room and all but flew to the main battery. She dashed through the mass to find the door to the battery locked. Inside, she could hear Garrus' angry growls and the sound of smashing glass.

"Garrus?" Alice cried, banging on the door "Garrus are you okay?" She got no reply, only more growling.

"What's happening?" Alice turned to see John running towards her. "I was talking to Samara when I saw you run past. What's wrong?"

Alice shook her head. "I don't know. EDI told me Garrus was 'in great distress' so I came to help but I can't get past the door."

John growled, "EDI, open the main battery doors."

There was a brief pause before the AI responded. "Officer Vakarian has blocked my systems from interfacing with the door. Restrictions in my programming prevent me from-"

"I get it EDI." John snapped.

"Logging you out Commander."

John turned to Alice "Can you bypass it?"

Alice nodded "I can try." She activated her omni-tool and quickly worked on the door for several seconds before shaking her head. "It's not working." She glanced back at John "Do you remember your old lock breaking technique?"

John nodded and powered up his biotics. "Yeah, stand back."

Alice stepped out of the way as John forced the door open with his considerable biotics. What they saw inside shocked them: Garrus was in the process of a bottle of what looked like liquor and from a box with more bottles inside it and throwing it against the wall. Judging by the pile of broken glass and spilled liquor piling up at the base of the wall, he had been doing this for a while.

Alice ran forward and grabbed Garrus' arm before he could throw the bottle. "What the Hell Garrus?"

Garrus' eyes locked with hers and Alice had to resist the urge to pull away. His eyes were wild, frenzied, and full of rage. Suddenly, Garrus recognized her and his eyes returned to normal. "Alice?"

"I'm here Garrus."

Garrus sank down onto his cot and shoved the box into her hands. "Take it away, take it all away." Garrus buried his head in his hands "I never want to see it again."

Alice looked at Garrus, completely bewildered while John took in the broken bottles and Garrus behavior and made the connection. "You're an alcoholic…" He whispered in disbelief.

"_Yes_…" Garrus moaned, his head still in his hands.

Alice placed the box aside and sat down on the cot next to Garrus. "Oh… Garrus…" she said, wrapping her arms around her broken friend.

Slowly, Garrus began to speak "After, I heard of Shepard's… death… I started dreaming about my time on the Normandy when all I wanted to do was forget. I started drinking to help myself sleep at night, and as time went on, I needed more and more to get to sleep. Soon, I couldn't live without it." Garrus took a shuddering breath. "Morinth… she figured it out, used it against me. She drugged a wine glass; I should have never fallen for that but…"

"…the temptation was just too great." John finished for Garrus. He took the box of liquor and started to leave the battery, saying. "I'm going to tell Chakwas, and then I'm shoving this out the airlock."

Alice stayed with Garrus when Chakwas came in and scanned him. "I'll need to keep an eye on him over the next few days to counteract any Withdraw effects he might have. For now, I recommend getting some sleep. Come by the medbay in the morning." Chakwas left, leaving Alice and Garrus alone.

Alice had removed her arms from around Garrus and was just sitting next to him on the cot, trying to think of a way to break the silence. She glanced at Garrus; she'd never seen the normally confident turian so vulnerable. His head was bowed, his shoulders were slumped, his hands limp in his lap.

Finally, Alice spoke up. "I'd better go… let you sleep." She got up and was about to leave when Garrus' hand shot out and grabbed hers.

"Don't go…" he whispered, his eyes pleading "Please?"

Alice, opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say but before she could, Garrus lowered his gaze and, ashamed, withdrew his hand. "Sorry…" he mumbled.

In that moment, Alice truly saw Garrus. She saw the broken, vulnerable person beneath the hard turian shell. She saw how much the last two years had changed him, how he was so different from the idealistic C-Sec officer that had comforted her after Kaidan's sacrifice, but most of all, she finally started to understand her feelings for him, feelings that go beyond camaraderie, beyond friendship. The realization shocked her, but oddly did not scare her.

"Garrus…" Alice whispered softly, taking his hand back in hers. "I'll be here if you need me."

Garrus looked up into Alice's eyes. The way she'd said those few words had struck a chord in him he didn't even know was there. Her gaze was soft, kind, and understanding, but what amazed Garrus most is what he didn't see in there: pity. Then, Alice did something that caused Garrus' heart to stop.

She grabbed Garrus by his cowl and pulled him into a kiss.

Garrus at first was stunned, but soon a warm feeling blossomed deep in his chest. His subharmonics purred as he wrapped his arms around Alice, pulling her closer to him, his eyes drifting shut to fully savor their embrace. Garrus had heard of the thing humans and asari did with their lips to show affection called kissing but had never experienced it before. It. Was. _Wonderful_. The gentle caress of her mouth against his, the way her tongue danced out of her mouth to tease his, how she smelled, how she tasted, _everything_ was more amazing than anything he could have possibly imagined. He wanted to stay in her embrace forever.

When they finally had to come up for air, Garrus realized he hadn't even noticed when they had fallen back onto the cot. His face still centimeters from Alice's, Garrus said "I… uh… wasn't expecting that…"

Alice smiled "But did you like it?"

Garrus chuckled and pulled the covers over them, "Definitely."

They drifted off to sleep in each other's arms a few minutes later and so were unaware when the main battery door opened and John stepped in, intending to check up on Garrus. He froze when he saw Garrus and Alice lying together on the cot. He was about to wake them both up and demand what was going on when he noticed that Alice was smiling contently (and was still clothed). Smiling to himself, John turned and left, leaving his sister and best friend to blissfully slumber in one another's arms.

**A/N: And that's a wrap. Don't worry this isn't the last time you see Alice, Garrus and John by a long shot. I'm already working on a humorous one-shot sequel to this called "The Talk" and after that, I'm going to be posting a story up under M!Shep/Ashley that details what happens to the John, Alice, Ash, Garrus, and the crew at the end of ME3. **

**As always, please let me know what I did well and what I can improve on.**


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